


The Life She Never Lived

by CinnamonStyx



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, Phantom Stranger (Comics)
Genre: Dreams, Gen, Multiverse, Past Lives, Post-Crisis, Pre-Crisis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-21
Updated: 2019-07-21
Packaged: 2020-07-10 01:16:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19897468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CinnamonStyx/pseuds/CinnamonStyx
Summary: Bette Kane has been having vivid dreams about a world that seems strange but also familiar to her and she's wondering what it all means. One night, she's visited by someone who can shed some light on what these dreams mean.





	The Life She Never Lived

**Author's Note:**

> So about halfway into writing this I realized I was ripping off the story "The Nearness of You" from Astro City. However, I decided to keep going regardless because I felt like writing about Bette and her history. But I do recommend reading The Nearness of You because it's a great story that I am shamelessly stealing from here. Oh well, at least I had fun writing about it.

It was getting late and Bette was anxious about going to bed. She knew she was going to have one of those dreams. It had been going on for weeks now. The events were always different but the details of the dream were always the same. She always was dressed in that red and green dress with the pointy domino mask and called herself "Bat-Girl". Bette didn't understand why but she somehow knew the name was hyphenated.

The dreams of being this person got stranger. There was always someone accompanying her in the dreams. A woman she called both "Aunt Kathy" and "Batwoman". But Bette knew this Batwoman couldn't be the one she was familiar with. For one, Batwoman never wore a bright yellow suit. For another, it was Kate not Kathy and Bette knew she was her cousin, not her aunt. And most obviously of all, the Batwoman in her dreams had a fixation on being in a relationship with Batman.

But these dreams were just that, dreams. And they shouldn't have bothered her. But they were too vivid to ignore. Bette really felt like she was in those dreams, running around with her supposed aunt and having all sorts of adventures as Bat-Girl and Batwoman.

Part of Bette liked the dreams. It was a wholesome escape from anything harsh coming from real life. But another part of her wondered what it all meant. It felt a bit like someone or something was trying to send her a message. What this hypothetical message would be was unclear to Bette.

She tried researching it but Kate had no idea what Bette was talking about and Oracle maintained that there'd never been a Batgirl that resembled the one from Bette's dream. Bette even tried getting in contact with a magic expert but even that got her nowhere. Apparently, Zatanna was too busy to help out Bette at the time.

So on this particular night, Bette told herself that she'd just have to accept these dreams and that it wasn't so bad. She liked feeling like a kid again. And her Aunt Kathy, real or not, was a kind, motherly figure that Bette enjoyed having around.

But in some stroke of cosmic irony, this was the first night that Bette had no dreams that she could remember. Yet somehow Bette, still asleep, realized that she wasn't dreaming and hated it. There was nothing around her. There wasn't even a "Her". Just thoughts telling her that there's nothing. Bette tried willing herself to dream. She thought about Bat-Girl, and Aunt Kathy, and all the adventures she'd been on when they were running around Gotham in her dreams.

Then, Bette awoke. She was covered in sweat like she had a fever that had just broken. A quick glance at her bedside alarm clock it was a little after four in the morning. Bette lay her head back down on the pillow and closed her eyes. It was after doing this that was when she heard the voice.

_"Bette Kane, you are troubled. Talk to me."_

Hearing this, Bette's eyes shot back open and floating a foot or two above her bed was a stoic man in a hat, suit, and cape; all the same shade of blue.

"What… Who… Who are you?"

"I am called the Phantom Stranger." the man's cape flowed behind him even though there was no wind. "I am here to shed some light on your dreams."

"My dreams? What do you know about them? Why am I Batgirl? Who's my aunt?"

"All will be explained. Take my hand." Phantom Stranger reached down towards the bed.

Bette hesitated. She did not know much about magical omnipotent entities but it seemed like she may be able to trust this one. Nodding, Bette grabbed the Phantom Stranger by the hand.

As soon as she made contact with the Phantom Stranger her bedroom disappeared and it felt like she was floating. Bette looked down and saw nothing but darkness and starts.

"What the… Where am I? Is this space?"

The Phantom Stranger said nothing and just pointed downwards. Bette followed where he was pointed and saw the planet Earth. Several of them actually. All lined up in a row that stretched a long way out. Some of the Earth's had slightly differently shaped landmasses, others were identical, some were so radically different it was near impossible to recognize it as an Earth.

"Bette Kane, this is the Multiverse. You are one version of yourself from one of many Earths." the Phantom Stranger waved his hand and visions of women who Bette recognized as herself appeared before her eyes.

But they weren't _exactly_ her. One was a pirate, another was a vampire, the one next to that was a robot of some kind.

"Are… Are they me?"

"They're a version of you."

"And what am I? Am I the first me?"

"No, you're the second. The one you dream of, _she_ was the first."

The images in front of Bette disappeared until the girl she'd seen in her dreams was all that remained. Bette stared down the vision. It was eerie, every last detail of her was just as Bette had dreamed.

"So _that's_ also me? The first one?"

"Betty Kane, fights crime as Bat-Girl with her aunt Kathy Kane. Much to the disapproval of the Dark Knight." something in the Phantom Stranger's tone made it sound like he was reading off of something. "She was in love with Robin while her aunt was in love with Batman."

"So that's who I'm dreaming of… Can I meet her?"

"No. Her world was destroyed in the first Crisis."

"Crisis? What do you mean?"

"Worlds lived, worlds died. And nothing was ever the same." the Phantom Stranger looked to Bette. "That's all I can say."

"So wait, if she's the original what am I? Does that make me some kind of copy…"

"Betty Kane came from a much softer world, she's a product of her own times. You are a different person, you're yourself."

Bette stared at this first version of herself as it slowly faded away. She was having trouble understanding but decided to go along with it. "And why the dreams? Why have I been having them?"

"You and Betty are connected. It's her way of talking to you from beyond. Your cousin, Kate had similar dreams about the other Batwoman for a time. I visited her too."

"Kate knows about this?!" Bette stared up into the Phantom Stranger's blank eyes, her face full of surprise and concern. "About the other Earths? And the- What did you call it? The Crisis?"

"She doesn't know. She forgets about it now. Only a few remember the first Earths."

"So I'll forget about this too? Then what's the point?"

"You won't remember, but you will feel closure… Goodbye Bette, my work here is finished."

There was no transition, it was as if Bette blinked and she was back in her room as the sun was rising. She peered out her window and felt like something very important had just happened. Bette sat there, trying to remember the events of the night but nothing came to her. But strangely, on the inside, Bette had the feeling something good had happened. Even if she didn't know what.

*******

Bette went through the day as normal, feeling happy with herself. She couldn't quite place it but she felt at peace with herself. And when night came, Bette lay down in bed without any hesitation. Something reassured her that there wouldn't be any more of her strange dreams that night.

When she dreamed that night, it felt familiar yet at the same time it was different. Bette dreamt she was on a Gotham rooftop again. But this time she wasn't a kid and she was in her Flamebird costume.

She didn't have much time to think when she saw the original version of herself, Betty Kane, Bat-Girl, whatever she was called, running towards her.

"Hey! Flamebird! I'm glad you could make it!" Bat-Girl laughed.

"Where… Where am I? Are you real?"

"I'm not sure. That's not important though. I feel like I'm real enough." Bat-Girl turned away and beckoned Bette to follow her. "Now come on, aunt Kathy's waiting for us! We need to help her stop Planet Master from robbing the Jupiter Street Museum!"

Bette paused. She didn't understand anything but she felt glad about this dream. In the other dreams, it was like she was trapped in someone else's body. Now she was free and part of her knew what everything meant. With a smile on her face, Bette ran after the younger version of herself. Something in the back of her head told her she'd remember none of this, but it didn't matter. She was happy to be having these dreams now and that's all that mattered to her.

**The End**

**Author's Note:**

> I don't actually know if the Phantom Stranger has these kinds of powers or knows about the Pre-Crisis DCU. But from what I know about him he's powerful and mysterious so I figured he was a good candidate for Bette's dream guide. I toyed with using Psycho-Pirate or the Spectre in his place but I felt like the Phantom Stranger worked the best.


End file.
